JPH09314852A - Ink jet recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the contamination of a recording medium with wiped-off ink by wiping the surface of a head with a wiper member so that wiped-off ink is bonded to a wiper cleaning member of the wiper member and bending the wiper member toward the wiper cleaning member. SOLUTION: In starting the wiping operation of the ink 2 left and bonded on the surface of a recording head 1 by a wiper member 3, at first, a wiper holder 5 is raised in an a-direction (upward direction) by a lift mechanism but, when the upper leading end of the wiper member 3 comes to the position slightly above the surface of the head 1 having the residual ink bonded thereto, the wiper holder 5 is stopped to be fixed. The recording head 1 mounted on a carriage is moved in a b-direction (left direction) by a drive means but, after the rising of the wiper holder 5 is stopped, the recording head 1 is controlled in its moving timing by the drive means so as to arrive at the contact position with the wiper member 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus for wiping residual ink at an ink ejection port with a wiper member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventionally known ink jet recording apparatus, a carriage carrying a recording head is reciprocated in a direction traversing a conveyance direction of a recording medium such as a sheet, and the carriage is reciprocated. There is a configuration in which ink is ejected from an ink ejection port of a recording head according to a recording signal to perform recording on a recording medium. Further, in that case, there is a configuration in which a cap member for sealing the ink ejection port is provided at the home position. After the ink ejection port is covered with this cap member, a negative pressure is applied to the inside of the ink ejection port so that the liquid can be sucked from the ejection port, so that the occurrence of clogging at the ejection port can be prevented. Even if clogging occurs, the clogging can be eliminated and the liquid can be recovered, or the discharge port can be filled with the liquid when a new liquid cartridge is attached to the apparatus.

In addition, a wiper member made of a plate-like elastic member made of silicon rubber, urethane rubber or the like is attached to the holder outside the recording area near the cap member. There is. The wiper member slidably contacts the surface of the recording head on which the ejection openings are provided and wipes it off to remove foreign matter such as residual ink and dust on the head surface to prevent clogging of the ejection openings. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of ejection failure.

However, when the wiper member is soiled with foreign matter such as residual ink and dust on the head surface being removed and the discharge port is wiped off continuously, a thickened ink thin film is formed on the discharge port. There is a possibility that the ink may be ejected from the ejection port due to the formation or dust being pushed in. Further, in the case of color recording having ejection openings for different colors, there is a possibility that ink color mixing may occur.

Therefore, conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-
As described in Japanese Patent No. 230949, a head holder for holding a recording head mounted on a carriage is provided with a protrusion, and a blade (wiper member) attached to a blade support plate is discharged. After cleaning the outlet, first, clean the deposits on the surface of the blade by sliding the blade wiped off the outlet onto the protrusion, and then use the blade. A configuration is known in which the ejection port is wiped off again.

Further, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 02-286349.
In the color recording apparatus of the publication, a wiper member, which is a plate-like elastic body, is attached to a holder, and the head surface (ejection port forming surface) and ejection port of the recording head mounted on the carriage for each color are the same. -A structure for wiping off with a member is described, but one embodiment for cleaning the wiper member described in the publication is that the tip of the recording head for each color projects toward the holder side. After the wiper member wipes off the head surface of one color when performing the color recording by providing the protruding portion, first, the dirty wiper member is brought into sliding contact with the protruding portion to clean the wiper member. Therefore, the operation of wiping off the head surface of the next color is repeated.

In another embodiment described in this publication, an ink absorbing member, which is a cleaning member composed of an ink absorbing member, is provided on the side of the tip of the recording head for each color. During the color recording, after the wiper member wipes off the head surface of one color, first, the dirty wiper member is slidably contacted with the ink absorbing member to wipe the wiper member.
After cleaning the member, the operation of wiping off the head surface of the next color is repeated.

[0008]

However, the structure as described in JP-A-61-230949 and the holder at the tip of the recording head described in JP-A-02-286349 are disclosed. In the configuration of the embodiment in which the projecting portion projecting to the − side is provided, even if the wiper member can be cleaned by the projecting portion, the projecting portion is provided so as to project from the surface on which the discharge port is provided. In this time, the ink attached to the protruding part is transferred to the recording medium,
There is a new problem that the recording medium may become dirty.

Further, in the case of the structure of the embodiment disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 02-286349 in which the ink absorbing member is provided on the side of the tip member of the recording head for each color, the ink absorbing member collects. Since the remaining ink is held as it is, there is a new problem that the ink of the ink absorbing member may be transferred to the recording medium and the recording medium may be contaminated.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and after cleaning the wiper member which has removed foreign matters such as residual ink and dust on the head surface, the cleaning is performed. It is an object of the present invention to provide an inkjet recording device in which a recording medium is not contaminated by the generated ink.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an ink jet recording apparatus according to a first aspect of the invention, which includes a recording head having an ejection port for ejecting ink toward a recording medium, and an elastic member. And a wiper member for wiping off the ink adhering to the ejection port, the wiper member being disposed adjacent to the wiper member and composed of an elastic member. -A wiper-cleaning member for cleaning, a holder-member for holding the wiper member and the wiper-cleaning member, and drive control means for controlling the drive of at least one of the recording head and the holder-member. The wiper cleaning member of the wiper member is the ink whose ink is wiped off the ejection port based on the control by the drive control means. After the ejection port is wiped off by the wiper member so that the ink adheres to the wiper member, the wiper member is bent toward the wiper cleaning member side so that the ink attached to the wiper member is removed by the wiper cleaning member. The present invention proposes an ink jet recording apparatus characterized by being configured to be cleanable.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of claim 2,
Further, it proposes a configuration in which a holder member integrally holds the wiper member and the wiper cleaning member.

In the ink jet recording apparatus of the third aspect,
Further, the invention proposes a configuration in which the wiper member and the wiper cleaning member are elastic members made of the same material and are formed into a blade shape.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 4,
Furthermore, by moving the recording head in one direction,
After the ink adhering to the ejection port is wiped off by the wiper member, the wiper member and the recording head are once separated, and then the recording head is moved in the opposite direction to the one direction. It proposes a configuration in which the drive control means controls the member so that the member is bent toward the wiper cleaning member side, and immediately after that, the wiper member is separated from the recording head.

In the ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5,
Further, after the ink attached to the wiper member is cleaned by the wiper cleaning member, the cleaning is performed.
The present invention proposes a configuration in which a holder member is provided with an ink storage portion for storing the stored ink.

Further, in the ink jet recording apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the ink attached to the wiper member is wiped with a wiper clear.
The ink cleaned by the cleaning member passes through the gap between the wiper member and the wiper-cleaning member and collects in the ink reservoir provided inside the holder member, and the ink reservoir provided on the upper surface of the holder member. It proposes a configuration that is designed to store in.

[0017]

According to the present invention, the ink adhering to the wiper member which has wiped off the discharge port can be easily removed by the wiper cleaning member.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the present invention, and is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state in which a recording head having residual ink adhered to a surface portion including an ejection port is moving toward a wiper member. Is. In the figure, 1 is a recording head, 2 is residual ink, 3 is a wiper member, 4 is a wiper cleaning member, 5 is a wiper holder, and 6 is an ink reservoir inside the wiper holder. Is.

Outside the recording area (not shown) in the vicinity of the cap member (not shown), there is a discharge port formed of a plate-shaped (blade-shaped) elastic body made of silicon rubber, urethane rubber or the like. A wiper member 3 as a member for wiping off (wiping) is attached to the wiper holder 5. Next to the wiper member 3, a plate-shaped (blade-shaped) wiper cleaning member 4 made of an elastic body similar to the wiper member 3 is provided.
It is attached to a holder-5. In FIG. 1, the recording head 1 is approaching from the right side to the left side. In this case, the wiper cleaning member 4 is arranged on the right side,
The member 3 is arranged on the left side. The wiper cleaning member 4 is not always in contact with the recording head 1 even when the wiper member 3 is wiping the recording head 1, that is, the recording head 1 of the wiper cleaning member 4.
Is attached to the wiper holder 5 so that the position of the front end of the wiper member 3 is lower than the position of the front end of the wiper member 3 on the recording head 1 side.

The wiper member 3 and the wiper cleaning member 4 are both attached to the wiper holder 5, but there is a slight gap between the wiper member 3 and the wiper cleaning member 4, and there is a slight gap therebetween. The gap is connected to an ink reservoir 6 provided inside the wiper holder 5. Then, a part of the residual ink wiped (wiped) from the head surface including the ejection port by the wiper member 3 passes through a gap between the wiper member 3 and the wiper cleaning member 4. The ink is stored in the ink reservoir 6.

With such a structure, when the wiper member 3 starts the wiping operation of the residual adhered ink 2 on the head surface, first, the wiper holder 5 is moved by the raising mechanism (not shown). The wiper member 3 is lifted in the direction a (upward), but the upper end of the wiper member 3 is left with the residual ink 2.
When it reaches a position slightly above the surface of the head to which is attached, stop rising and fix it. The recording head 1 mounted on a carriage (not shown) is moved in the b direction (left direction) by a driving means (not shown), but the recording head 1 is lifted by the wiper holder 5. After stopping, the drive timing is controlled by the drive control means (not shown) so as to reach the contact position with the wiper member 3.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the next process of FIG. 1 in a state in which residual ink on the head surface including the ejection ports of the recording head has been wiped off by a wiper member. There is.

By further moving the carriage carrying the recording head 1 in the direction b from the state of FIG. 1, the wiper member 3 is bent and the surface of the recording head 1 starts to be wiped off as shown in FIG. At this time, the tip of the wiper cleaning member 4 does not contact the surface of the recording head 1, and the residual ink 2 on the head surface is wiped off by the wiper member 3 alone.

FIG. 3 shows the next process of FIG. 2, in which the wiper member 3 is in sliding contact with the surface of the recording head on which the ejection openings are provided, and is a schematic block diagram of a state immediately before the completion of wiping. ing.

When the carriage carrying the recording head 1 reaches the position shown in FIG. 3, the residual ink on the surface of the head 1 becomes
All have moved to the wiper member 3.

FIG. 4 shows the next process of FIG. 3, showing a schematic constitutional view in a state where the wiping of the surface of the recording head by the wiper member 3 is completed and the recording head is separated from the wiper member 3. ing.

In FIG. 4, both the wiper member 3 and the wiper cleaning member 4 have returned to the state of FIG. 1, and a part of the residual ink 2 transferred to the wiper member 3 is wiped.
It enters the gap between the member 3 and the wiper-cleaning member 4, and flows into the ink reservoir 6 provided inside the wiper holder 5. Further, a part of the residual ink 2 wiped off by the wiper member 3 is, as shown in FIG. 4, a side surface of the wiper member 3 between the tip of the wiper member 3 and the tip of the wiper cleaning member 4. Stick to and stick to.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the next process of FIG. 4 immediately before the wiper cleaning member 4 starts cleaning (cleaning) the wiper member 3. .

In FIG. 5, the carriage on which the recording head 1 is mounted is moved in the direction c (right direction), which is the opposite direction of the moving direction up to FIG. 4, under the control of the drive control means (not shown). It shows a state in which the wiper member 3 is moved toward and abutted against the wiper member 3 again. At this time, the wiper holder 5 is fixed at the same position as in FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing the next step of FIG. 5 in a state in which the wiper cleaning member 4 is cleaning (cleaning) the wiper member 3.

In FIG. 6, the recording head 1 moving in the direction c causes the wiper member 3 to largely bend and the wiper cleaning member 4 to slightly bend. When the wiper member 3 bends, the tip of the wiper cleaning member 4 slightly bends while curving up the side surface of the wiper member 3 to which the residual ink 2 adheres, so that the wiper member 3 bends. The residual ink 2 adhering to the side surface of the member 3 moves to the wiper cleaning member 4.

FIG. 7 shows the next step of FIG. 6, in which the movement of the recording head 1 is stopped after the cleaning of the wiper member 3 is completed, and the wiper holder 5 is moved in the d direction (downward). Direction) is shown.

In FIG. 7, the wiper member 3 in FIG.
Of the residual ink 2 transferred from the side surface of the wiper cleaning member 4 to the wiper cleaning member 4 to the side surface of the wiper cleaning member 4 and fall into the ink reservoir 7 above the wiper holder 5. The accumulated state is shown. Further, a state is shown in which the residual ink 2 that has entered the gap between the wiper member 3 and the wiper cleaning member 4 is accumulated in the ink reservoir 6 provided inside the wiper holder 5. .

By performing the above operation, the wiper
The member 3 is cleaned (cleaned). Also, wiper
The ink accumulated in the holder 5 may be appropriately discarded.

In this embodiment, the case of wiping one head has been described, but for example, three heads are provided for each color.
Even in the case of color recording such as having one or four, if the above-mentioned operation is repeated for each head, even if there is only one wiper member, color mixing does not occur It is possible to perform wiping of the head.

Further, in the present embodiment, the side of the carriage on which the recording head 1 is mounted is moved in the left-right direction, and the wiper wheel is moved.
The rudder 5 side is moved in the vertical direction, but if the same effect as the present invention can be obtained, for example,
Alternatively, the wiper holder 5 side may be fixed and the wiper holder 5 side may be moved in the vertical and horizontal directions to wipe the surface of the recording head 1 and clean the wiper member 3.
The wiper holder 5 side is completely fixed, and the recording head 1
The side may be moved up and down and left and right to wipe the surface of the recording head 1 and clean the wiper member 3.

Further, as a recording apparatus to which the present invention is applied, recording is performed by utilizing deformation of a piezoelectric element,
The present invention is not limited to the type in which recording is performed by utilizing the generation of bubbles, and is applicable to all recording devices that perform recording using ink.

[0039]

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect of the present invention, the wiper member can be cleaned with a simple structure, and the wiper member is provided not on the recording head but on the holder member. After cleaning the wiper member, it is possible to prevent the recording medium from being contaminated with the cleaned ink.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the second aspect, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect, the holder member integrally holds the wiper member and the wiper cleaning member, which is necessary. It requires less space and costs can be kept low.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the third aspect, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect, the wiper member and the wiper cleaning member are made of the elastic material of the same material, so that the cost can be kept low. be able to. Further, since it is formed into a blade shape, the wiper member can be cleaned surely and easily.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the fourth aspect, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the first aspect, the cleaning operation of the wiper member using the wiper cleaning member is performed by moving the recording head in the opposite direction. Since the operation is interlocked with the operation, the cleaning of the wiper member can be performed with a simple structure, the reliability is high, and the cost can be kept low.

According to the ink jet recording apparatus of the fifth aspect, in the ink jet recording apparatus of the second aspect, since the holder member is provided with the ink reservoir portion for retaining the cleaned ink, the residual ink is efficiently removed. Can be collected.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the ink jet recording apparatus according to the fifth aspect, wherein the cleaned ink is accumulated in an ink reservoir provided inside the holder member and is provided on the upper surface of the holder member. Since the ink is collected in the ink reservoir, the residual ink can be collected more efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state in which a recording head having residual ink adhered to a surface portion including an ejection port is moving toward a wiper member, which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state in which the residual ink on the head surface including the ejection ports of the recording head has started to be wiped (wiping) by a wiper member in the next process of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state immediately before the end of wiping in which the surface of the recording head on which the ejection ports are provided is in sliding contact with the next step of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state in which the wiping of the surface of the recording head by the wiper member is completed and the recording head is separated from the wiper member in the next process of FIG. 3;

5 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state immediately before the start of cleaning (cleaning) of the wiper member by the wiper cleaning member in the next process of FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state where the wiper cleaning member is cleaning (cleaning) the wiper cleaning member in the next process of FIG. 5;

7 is a process next to FIG. 6, in which the movement of the recording head is stopped after the cleaning of the wiper member is completed, and the wiper holder is moved in the d direction (downward direction). It is a schematic block diagram showing the state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Recording Head 2 Residual Ink Ink 3 Wiper Member 4 Wiper Cleaning Member 5 Wiper Holder 6 Ink Reservoir Inside Wiper Holder 7 Ink Reservoir Above Wiper Holder

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A recording head having an ejection port for ejecting ink toward a recording medium, and a wiper for removing the ink attached to the ejection port, the wiper being composed of an elastic member.
And a wiper cleaning member for cleaning the wiper member, the wiper cleaning member being disposed adjacent to the wiper member and including an elastic member. A wiper member and a holder member that holds the wiper cleaning member, and a drive control unit that controls the drive of at least one of the recording head and the holder member, and control by the drive control unit Based on the above, the ink wiped off the ejection port is wiped by the wiper cleaner of the wiper member.
After the ejection port is wiped off by the wiper member so that the ink adheres to the cleaning member side, the wiper member is bent toward the wiper cleaning member side to wipe the ink adhered to the wiper member. An inkjet recording apparatus, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is configured so that it can be cleaned by a cleaning member. 2. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the holder member integrally holds the wiper member and the wiper cleaning member. 3. The wiper member and the wiper cleaning member are elastic members made of the same material, and are made of a blade.
The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is formed in a dough shape. 4. The wiper member is wiped off the ink adhering to the discharge port by moving the print head in one direction, and then the wiper member and the print head are once separated, and thereafter, , By moving the recording head in a direction opposite to the one direction to bend the wiper member toward the wiper cleaning member side, and immediately after that, the wiper member is separated from the recording head. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inkjet recording apparatus is controlled by a drive control unit. 5. The holder member is provided with an ink storage portion for storing the cleaned ink after cleaning the ink attached to the wiper member with the wiper cleaning member. The inkjet recording apparatus according to claim 2, wherein 6. The holder member, wherein ink adhered to the wiper member is cleaned by the wiper cleaning member and passes through a gap between the wiper member and the wiper cleaning member. The ink jet recording apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the ink is accumulated in the ink reservoir provided inside and is also retained in the ink reservoir provided on the upper surface of the holder-member.